Parting is Such Parting is Sorrow
by Palladias
Summary: A post OOTP fic in Hermione's POV. Reflections on the events of the past year, troubles of being muggleborn. HUGE OOTP spoilers! No real pairings. Very angsty with Ender's game reference. May be part of a series.


Parting is such sweet Sorrow  
  
The Hogwarts Express train ride, at the end of my fifth year, passed in a blur. It had been a very difficult year for all of us. I wouldn't have admitted it to Harry or especially to Ron, who'd laugh, but I was glad to be going home. I loved Hogwarts, but I'd been seeing my parents less and less each year. I hadn't even spent Christmas with them. I had only been their a few days when Ron's father was attacked. I had to go to Grimmauld Place. My summer had even been cut short when Professor McGonagall had picked me up.  
  
Headmaster Dumbledore only gave me two weeks with Mum and Dad. McGonagall was sent by soon after Hogwarts let out. I was at the library when she arrived. The latest Jasper Fforde novel had come out. By the time I returned home she had spoken to my parents and convinced them I had to leave. It was for my own protection she explained.  
  
I had really missed them, and I needed to talk to them. Dumbledore had asked us to not discuss the events in the Department of Mysteries in case our owls were intercepted. I wanted their advice on how to handle these sorts of situations. I also wanted them to comfort me. I still felt guilty about my own performance there. My sloppy wandwork had gotten Neville's wand and nose broken. I should have been more attentive to Dolohov. A powerful Death Eater doesn't lose his powers just by being silenced. I can't help but think if I'd been there, one more wand could have turned the tide. Sirius Black might still be alive. At any rate, we might have kept the prophecy. I wanted my mom, childish as it may sound, to tell me it would be all right.  
  
The train stopped jarringly. My hand flew to my wand instantly. I had been doing exercises to bring up my reaction time. When I got home, I was going to be the only one able to do magic in the house. Reasonable Restriction of Underage Wizardry be damned. If it was get expelled from Hogwarts or save my parents, I knew what my choice would be. It was a good thing I had always been a light sleeper.  
  
I'd been having nightmares since the Department of Mysteries. They'd start out simply. I'd leave the house for a short time and come back to find the Dark Mark over the house. I'd run as fast as I could, hearing my mom and dad scream. By the time I got in, it was always too late. Dolohov and Malfoy would be standing over their bodies, laughing. Then they'd turn their wands on me. I kept waking up, my fist in my mouth to keep from screaming. At least I knew I'd be ready if they came at night. The night before we left, Pavarti got up past one in the morning to use the facilities. She didn't make it to the door before I had put the full body bind on her, instinctively.  
  
There was no attack, however. We hurried through the barrier. I heard the Weasley family and various others faintly in the back of my head. The moment I saw my parents I dashed forward, cutting off Mr. Weasley's query, "So what is this. internat, is that what it's called?" My mother and father were both crying almost as hard as I as we hugged. We only let go when there was a loud crash. Harry's cousin, Dudley had been edging away from some of the Order, which I now saw included Tonks, Moody, and Lupin, when he tripped over my hastily abandoned luggage. Moody, it appeared had been menacing the Dursleys. Harry's aunt seemed about to faint. Mr. Weasley moved forward now, "Even if you don't let Harry use the fellytone."  
  
"Telephone," I sighed. Some things never change. The Dursleys left in short order after that. "Goodbye, Harry," Ron and I called. I turned back to my parents, but they weren't there. The Order, the Weasleys, and I were the only ones left. "Professor Lupin," I asked quietly, trying not to panic, "Where did my mum and dad go? They were here a moment ago and they've vanished. Are they waiting at the car or." I trailed off nervously.  
  
"Hermione, let me explain," Lupin said calmly. "You know Voldemort is likely to target those close to Harry. As we've all discovered they can serve as bait in a trap quite. quite easily," His cool demeanor slipped for a moment and he wiped his eyes quickly on his ragged sleeves. He had been Sirius's closest friend, after all.  
  
"What Remus is saying," Moody interjected in his gruff voice, "Is that as Potter's friend and a muggleborn you offer a tempting target to Voldemort or to any Death Eater seeking recognition. We need you to spend the summer back at Headquarters for protection, same as Ronald over there." He pointed over at Ron who tried to look as though he hadn't been eavesdropping. "We can keep you safe, but that leaves the question of your parents. You'd probably try to save them if Voldemort got them which leaves with us in the same position. The moment one of Harry's friends." Moody's eyebrows contracted suddenly. "You and Potter aren't. uh. involved in any way are you?" Ron's head shot up as he abandoned any pretense of inattention. "Mad-Eye!" hissed Tonks angrily. "Don't ask her that."  
  
"It's a matter of security, Nymphadora," Moody responded, swiveling his magical eye to speak to her. "Well, are you or aren't you, Granger?"  
  
"We're just friends, Professor. But where are my parents?" Out of the corner of my eye I say Ron grin foolishly. Prat. It wasn't that funny.  
  
"What this barmy, meddling dingbat is trying to say and utterly failing at," cut in Tonks quietly, "is that we've used the Fidelius Charm to protect your parents. We had them move to a new home."  
  
"Who's the Secret Keeper? There are a lot of things that could go wrong with that charm." I could see Ron handing Fred and George a few knuts for an Extendable Ear.  
  
"Don't worry, Hermione. It's all taken care of. We got one of the professors to do it. It would have been McGonagall but we didn't know if she'd be all right and couldn't wait that long. Don't worry; we got an excellent Legilimens instead. You'll have to give him your letters and he'll make sure you aren't revealing too much in case they're intercepted," Tonks explained.  
  
Mrs. Weasley had noticed Ron with the Extendable Ear and seemed to be hitting him with it. "It's Professor Snape, isn't it," I said dully. "Every letter I write to my parents gets censored by Snape," my voice started to rise. "You know how that's going to turn out; some sort of a Catch-22 scenario. I'll be lucky if the word 'the' gets through! Worse, he'll change the letters!"  
  
"It will be all right, Hermione," said Mrs. Weasley dragging Ron over by the ear. Apparently she had been displeased about Ron's little bargain with the twins. "You'll stay with us again. I'm sure you enjoyed it. There will be plenty to do. We still have to finish cleaning the house; you'll be so busy, you won't have time to worry."  
  
Yeah, sure. I had spent nearly the whole of last summer with the Weasleys. Fred and George kept pulling pranks the moment I turned my back, and Ginny wanted to discuss the contents of the latest issue of TeenWitch endlessly. (A few of their more informative articles included: "Legal Love Spells", "Make-up Magic", and "Accio Yourself a Boyfriend.") Arthur and Molly Weasley were busy with the Order, of course, so were Bill and Charlie. Don't bring up Ron with me. He spent the whole summer practicing on that broom of his and writing sappy love poems. (Ron's handwriting is bad enough that the object of his affection will remain anonymous.) The only member of the Weasley clan I had anything in common with was Percy. Enough said.  
  
"Hermione," Lupin said quietly, "your parents did leave something for you." He turned and pulled forward two suitcases. "These are some of your favorites, they said. Your mom and dad said you'd like this one especially." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a dilapidated copy of Ender's Shadow. "I can't make any promises, Hermione, but if people from the Order have any extra time, we can send someone with you to some of the museums or the libraries. We can try to arrange a meeting with you and your parents, but don't get your hopes up. We have to go now."  
  
I managed to hold my tears till I was back in Grimmauld Place and understood, for the first time, why Sirius had been driven to leave. 


End file.
